Daily Archive for June 28th, 2006

Readings in blogland!

Published
by
Graeme
on June 28, 2006
in old uksalvationist posts
. 0 Comments

Having been away for 3 weeks and having spent most of that time away from a computer I’ve been trying to catch up on what has been written on my favourite blogs! It turns out that there are a few wonderful articles that have either sparked debate or are hidden gems!

The obvious place to start is Grant Sandercock-Brown’s “We are not perfect” over at theRubicon.org. I’ve read a couple of articles by Grant and he always asks the probing questions. Judging by the 26 comments that have already been added to the post, he has done the same again. Whilst the article itself makes some big generalisations the debate it has sparked is interesting and well worth a read!

Sticking with theRubicon (which is fast becoming a significant website in my opinion) is Gordon Cotterill’s “Missional Jesus” which argues the premise that we are spending too much time ‘pecking’ over our different methods of being The Army, and missing the real issue!

One place that I almost always find challenging is realmealministries.org, hence the link on the right! Brian Russell, who is the author of the blog, has written a great piece about “Questions on Sanctification” which has helped some of my own thoughts to click into place. I particularly love his final comment which says:

Human beings long to be loved authentically (community), to live for a greater purpose (mission), and to become something better than they are (holiness). The discerning preacher/teacher will invite persons to experience these in Jesus Christ.

There are several more that have caught my eye but I’ll finish with another Gordon Cotterill offering this time from his own blog URBANarmy. Gordon has been doing a serious on the Lost Themes of Mission. One is on the subject of “Jubilee” and I’d recommend it if you haven’t already seen it!

Fun but ultimately useless!

Published
by
Graeme
on June 28, 2006
in old uksalvationist posts
. 0 Comments

Sometimes there is a certain joy in finding something that is simply totally useless! The picture below is one of those things and is simply this blog as a pictorial graph! Sad I know!

If for any reason at all you want to give it a try go to this site and see what you think!

What we need is Passion!

Published
by
Graeme
on June 28, 2006
in old uksalvationist posts
. 0 Comments

There is so much talk around within the Army blogging world about what is the right way for us to be Army. Each time the discussion is raised it seems to go round in a circle a couple of times and then fades away only to appear on another blog a few days later and do it all again.

Why do we keep having the discussion? I think the answer is easy! We look at the early day Army and see the radical nature of what those early Salvationists did and are disappointed at what we see today.

Without any doubt there are things wrong with this Army that God raised up. When I look at our corps I can see elements of the Revelation churches everywhere. Some like Ephesus (Rev 2:1-7Open Link in New Window) have lost their first love; others blow neither hot nor cold like Laodicea (Rev 3:14-22Open Link in New Window). We definitely have Sardis-like corps (Rev 3:1-6Open Link in New Window) who are spiritually dead.

But lets not forget we also have a growing number of corps who are like the church in Philadelphia (Rev 3:7-13Open Link in New Window), who Christ praises.

Nothing radically new in that line of thought I know but bare me out. A few weeks ago I wrote a piece about the need for a radical overhaul of the Army. This is still my position, but I’ve come to a realisation that the only way this is really going to happen is if those of us who recognise the problems become passionate about being The Salvation Army that God called us into being to be!

We can argue forever about which model of Church reflects best what The Salvation Army needs to be today! For me we need to forget all the different models and simply get on with the war! I don’t think that we can ever become what we once were, but if we focus on God’s calling we will become an even bigger force in the future.

Let’s be what God called us into being for! Passionate examples of His love for a fallen world! Passionate Saints who are passionate for souls and God’s Kingdom on earth!